


Wanna Go to Prom With Me?

by SpyroForLife



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Dancing, Fluff, M/M, One-Shot, Prom, ex-Invader Zim
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-04
Updated: 2016-12-04
Packaged: 2018-09-06 11:29:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,753
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8748892
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SpyroForLife/pseuds/SpyroForLife
Summary: Dib asks Zim out to prom on a whim. Startled but appreciative, Zim accepts. And when the night arrives they both must face up to some new feelings for each other.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written for ZaDR in years. I just felt like doing something with my boys and this is what I came up with. It's probably OOC but now that I've figured out their personalities again I might do a couple more things. I hope you enjoy anyway.

“Wanna go to prom with me?” The moment the words left Dib’s lips, he immediately regretted it. Zim’s posture, previously casual, straightened out, the irken dropping his hand to the desk with a smack as he barked out incredulously.

“ _What_?”

The room, full of students waiting for the final bell to release them, burst into laughter. Dib flushed and turned back to his own desk, sinking into it. “N-never mind,” he muttered.

“Dib likes Zim!” someone chanted, and a few others joined in before the teacher snapped at them to stop.

So they returned to their conversations, but were still giggling and trading sly remarks about the two.

Dib wanted to just button up his coat and disappear down into it, and he was close to doing so when small fingers rapped firmly against his shoulder. Turning, he saw Zim staring at him.

“Do I want to go where with you?” Zim asked.

Dib sighed and sat up, nervously fiddling with the hems of his sleeves. “You know, we are seniors, and… prom is next week, I didn’t bother going last year but now… I mean it’s free for us and it might be fun and I didn’t want to go alone. So… I thought maybe we could go together. As friends, of course.”

“As friends.” Zim thought about it, then slowly nodded. “I suppose my schedule is free that day.”

Dib snorted. “Your schedule is always free now.”

Zim gave him a small glare; that was still a sore subject. “I suppose so. Alright, Dib, I accept your proposition. I’ll meet you at this… prom night thing. Honestly it beats an afternoon arguing over the TV with GIR and eating nachos.”

“I bet they’ll have nachos at prom,” Dib mused. He looked around until he located Jessica. “Hey, Jessica! What’s the prom’s theme again?”

She rolled her eyes. “Oh you know, we’ve only been talking about it every day… It’s totally gonna be Hollywood! We’ve got a red carpet to enter on, there’s gonna be a replica of the sign to take your picture in front of, life size statues painted gold, art club is doing great on that by the way, I think your sister is involved… lots of dark, starry backdrops, pretty lights, the works! Oh and the snacks will be to die for!”

“Heh, sounds fun,” Dib admitted.

“Just make sure you show up in something nice, and not… that.” She gestured vaguely at him.

“You just gestured to all of me.”

“Mhm. You need some advice, call up Zita, she is the best.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Dib was sure he could handle obtaining a suit for the occasion. Zim was the one he was concerned about. But it really didn’t matter, the clothes weren’t that important. At least not to him. He just wanted to listen to music, hang out, and eat free food.

Finally the bell rang, and everyone rushed out. Dib walked with Zim.

“So why did you ask me?” Zim asked. “There are plenty of humans here that you’re friends with.”

“I know, but most of them actually have dates. Keef hooked up with Gretchen, Torque is taking that junior he’s been dating, Zita is with Sara… I’m sure they wanna spend time with their dates. So I figured I’d invite you, so we can hang out while we’re there.”

Zim nodded. “Well, I’m happy to accept! It might be fun, and I can learn more about Earth culture.”

“Oh yeah. I’d recommend doing some research on it beforehand, but you’ve been to dances before so I’m sure you’ll be fine.”

“Of course. I’m no stranger to social gatherings.”

“Yeah but you tend to cause a lot of damage in social gatherings,” Dib said, nudging him playfully.

Zim smacked his hand away. “Nonsense. I have no idea what you mean.”

“Sure you don’t. Well, okay, we’re going. We should carpool, I’ll swing by your place like thirty minutes before seven and drive you there. Technically it opens before that but I don’t plan on spending much time there so.”

“Sounds good.”

They talked the rest of the way home until they had to split up to go to their separate houses. They waved goodbye and looked forward, both thinking about how they were going to get ready for the night.

 

“You look fine, stop preening,” Gaz said, trying to pull Dib out of the bathroom.

“Hold on.” He was trying to flatten his cowlick, but it just kept springing back up. Honestly, it was almost supernatural. He could probably get it classified as such too if he wasn’t so worried about secret agents coming to cut it off. Well, he had that fear when he was younger. Now he doubted that would happen. But still.

Gaz sighed and waited, tapping her foot. She needed to shower.

Dib gave up on his hair and looked at his suit, smoothing it out. It was fairly standard, a black tuxedo with matching pants, white shirt, and a blue tie. His dress shoes were shined and kinda uncomfortable on his feet, but he felt he could handle it for a few hours.

He was about to go when Gaz said, “Did you brush your teeth?”

“Well… No, I was going to when I got back…”

“You really should do it now.”

“Why?”

“Well are you going to kiss your date with bad breath?”

Dib slammed down the hairbrush. “I’m going with Zim!”

“I know. Your point? He definitely won’t appreciate, germaphobe he is.”

“I’m not kissing Zim,” Dib said firmly. “We aren’t going as dates, we’re going as friends.”

“That’s what they all say.” Gaz could tell he was getting annoyed and happily kept going. “Look, I’m just saying things happen. So like… Yeah.”

Dib shook his head, checking his watch. “I gotta go. Stay here, keep the door locked, so on.”

“Whatever. Have fun with your prom not-date.” She waited for him to leave and closed the door.

Dib was scowling as he walked toward the front door. Dating Zim. That was ridiculous. Zim may have had a change of heart about Earth, and they may have put their differences aside, but they still had a lot to work through. Zim’s past wasn’t so easily forgiven. But they were friends, and it was enough for both of them.

He went out and got in his car, heading over to Zim’s base. On the way, he sent a text to let him know he was coming. Zim could be forgetful. Even if he just reminded him at school. Zim tended to have very selective hearing.

Zim responded quickly, saying he was ready to go. Good, he remembered.

Dib pulled the car up outside his base and put it into park, waiting. He looked down at his phone, taking a few moments to check his e-mails. By the time he lifted his eyes to look out the window, Zim was stepping out of the house.

Dib was immediately struck with awe at how he looked. He really hadn’t expected him to do anything fancy, maybe throw on a bow tie over a uniform, or grab some ratty suit from a thrift store, or just show up in normal casual clothing, but no… He had dressed for the occasion, and he looked good.

A magenta cape flowed down his shoulders, streaming behind his body as he walked with long steps. Underneath was a sharp pink shirt, with a sweeping collar that buttoned low enough to leave Zim’s collarbones visible, tucking into a sort of magenta cummerbund at the waist. His pants were black and over them he wore knee high, elegant black boots with buckles on the insides.

The shirt had no arms to it, and Zim’s arms and hands were uncovered, which he rarely did even now that he had sworn to live on Earth. He had gone his whole life wearing gloves so he felt exposed without them, and would at least wear fabric ones if he had to be out and about. But now he had foregone them. Silver bands were around his biceps.

He looked fantastic and Dib scrambled to open the passenger door for him. Zim climbed in, sweeping up the tail of his cape and making sure it was all inside before closing the door. Now Dib could see that the cape clasped around his neck using a small silver pin shaped like the irken armada logo.

“So lucky this arrived on time, I was sure it was going to be late and I would have had to use a backup, which quite frankly was ugly,” Zim said. He pulled down the sun visor and flipped open the mirror.

Dib looked at him for a few moments, then got a hold of himself and looked forward, putting the car into drive and heading out. “You look great.”

“Thank you! I ordered this from Irk, it’s typical formal wear. I can’t even remember the last time I wore something like this. Maybe when I finished the initial phase of academy, but we didn’t get to keep them, and I was smaller then.”

“You’re still small.”

“Rude!” Zim lightly hit his arm. “I’ll have you know that back then I was approximately two feet and five inches tall, an absolute shrimp! By comparison, by the time I got to come here? Three feet, two inches! Haha, not bad, hmm?”

Dib chuckled. “Oh yeah. And then you got that totally natural, adulthood growth spurt and grew to a soaring four feet tall, and there you stayed.”

Zim put his hands on his hips. “Hey, that’s four feet and _one inch_ , in case you didn’t know.”

“Uh oh, watch out, we got a badass over here.” Dib grinned at how he scowled, but he knew how much height mattered to irkens so he didn’t tease him too much. “It’s really great, I’m happy for you.”

That cheered him up. “Thanks! Oh and your outfit’s nice, weird seeing you without your trench coat, but this fits you.”

“Yeah, I don’t wear this stuff often. Glad it looks good, though.” Dib kept glancing at him, feeling warm. Zim really looked nice in that, it accented all his curves, showed off his arms…

Zim caught him looking and said, “What is it, did I get a stain on me?”

Dib shook his head. “No, just… admiring you.”

“Oh.” Zim seemed flattered. “You like it that much, huh?”

“Well, yeah, it’s… very nice clothing and I’ve never seen you in anything like it.”

Zim nodded. “I see. Well, you’ll get to look at me all night, Dib-thing. No need to rush.”

Dib laughed and focused on the road. “Of course.” He had no idea how to address the sudden feelings. His heart was pounding. He’s never really felt this way about someone before, so he didn’t know what to call this. But… he was able to admit to himself that Zim was attractive. The real question was… was he actually attracted to him?

Dib must have looked tense, because Zim reached over to set a hand over his. Dib started at the touch; his palm was incredibly soft. But he allowed Zim to draw his hand away from the wheel, and glanced over to meet his eyes.

Even through the contacts, Zim’s eyes were intense. “We’re friends, yes?”

“Yeah.”

“As your friend, I’m concerned. Are you okay? You’re kinda sweaty, and I wasn’t going to say anything, but you smell nervous. What’s up?”

Dib should have known Zim would catch on. His senses were a lot stronger than his, he could practically smell emotions. He looked forward. “Nothing. I’ve just never been to prom before.”

“I don’t think that’s the problem. You look… I don’t know, you’re making that face you do when you’re overthinking something. Calm down, Dib. It’s just a dance.”

“Of course. Just a dance. I’m fine, really,” Dib insisted.

Zim bit his lip, staring at him, but accepted it. His hand moved away, and Dib kinda missed it. He turned up the radio, and after a few moments, Zim started singing along to the song and Dib rubbed his face, hoping he stopped blushing by the time they got to the high school. Okay, maybe he was attracted to Zim.

The trip only took about ten minutes, then they were there. Dib was pretty unimpressed with the school for having prom in the gym when he knew there were plenty of nice venues around town, but he supposed he wasn’t on the planning committee so he couldn’t say anything.

Once parked, they headed in. Two giant gold statues were on either side of the entrance and there was a red carpet, just as Jessica had said.

They stopped at a table in front of the doors to hand in their tickets, and both were complimented on their outfits. Dib accepted it humbly but Zim beamed at the praise.

As they were going in, Dib said, “You know they have to compliment everyone, right?”

“Yes but she said I looked radiant! Sure I didn’t intend to look like I’m transmitting heat via radiation but I’ll take it!”

“Wrong definition of radiant.” Dib flicked the strands of his wig around. “Dork.”

“Well she just said you look spiffy, what does that even mean,” Zim retorted. He looked around the gym. The latest pop songs were playing and the room was filled with people dancing. Tables were along the sides, draped in white silk and decorated with candles and folded napkins as though at a fancy after party with all the big celebrities. Luckily none seemed to be reserved for anyone.

“What do you want to do?” Dib asked. “We can get food, or just sit and chill, or whatever…”

Zim was tapping his foot lightly to the beat, and after a few moments, turned to Dib. “Yeah, food, I haven’t eaten since lunch.”

They went over to the buffet tables. There were platters of finger foods, fruits and cheeses, tiny sausages in rolls, and there was even a chocolate fondue fountain. Zim’s eyes lit up at that.

“Don’t go too crazy,” Dib warned as Zim grabbed a toothpick and stabbed it into a cookie, before running it under the chocolate.

“Too late,” Zim replied, popping it in his mouth. “Mm, that’s delicious.”

Dib laughed and got a plate, choosing a few different things and grabbing some punch. He sniffed it, hoping it wasn’t spiked. No one would do that, right? Then again, at this school…

“Hey Zim, you can smell chemical warfare, right?” he asked.

“Kinda random question, but yes, I’m trained to identify thousands of-”

Dib pushed the cup under his nose. “Tell me if this is spiked.”

Zim gave him a look, but did so, sniffing it. After a moment, he said, “There’s nothing alarming in that drink. Just fruit and some sort of seltzer water.”

“Good.” Dib took a drink, then explained, “Sometimes people put drugs in drinks like this at social events. Just to see other people get high or even pass out. You can’t be too careful with this bunch.”

“Oh, I totally get it. Well hopefully no one touches it.” Zim made a plate, mostly of dessert food, and then followed Dib over to a table. They sat down to eat, watching the others dance. There were spotlights roaming about in simple patterns, but most of the gym was in low light, and people were dancing the way you would expect teenagers to dance to bass heavy pop and hip hop music.

“Honestly, I’m not much of a dancer,” Dib said. “Especially not that kind of dancing.” He gestured to a grinding couple. “How about you?”

“GIR likes to dance,” Zim said. “He’s dragged me into it more times than I can count. But it’s not something I do on my own. It has to be a really good song for me to even consider dancing, and then I’d want to do it with someone else, so at least if I look like a fool, so do they.”

“Heh, yeah.” Dib looked at him, taking in how the light of the candle flickered across Zim’s face, highlighting his alien features, casting shadows under his eyes.

After a few moments, he hesitantly said, “I do like this song… Wanna dance?”

Zim put his food down immediately. “I thought you’d never ask.” He got up and went around the table to take Dib’s hand, leading him out.

“Wait, were you wanting me to ask?” Dib asked, surprised.

Zim spun to face him, clasping his hand and resting his other on his waist. “Yes, I was getting bored sitting there, there’s too much energy in this room and I had to get up and move. Now stop looking at me like a gutted Vortian and start dancing.”

Dib was already embarrassed, people were glancing at them, whispering to each other, but the song was good and Zim was right there in front of him, looking up at him and holding his gaze, guiding him around in circles. This really wasn’t the kind of song for this, and luckily Zim realized it. He instead lowered his hands and danced more similarly to the others, swaying his hips back and forth, stepping along to the beat, occasionally twirling. Dib relaxed and tried his best to copy him, following his surprisingly fancy footwork, and Zim grinned and let out short laughs each time he failed to match him.

“You can dance,” Dib accused.

“What, like it’s hard?” Zim replied. “GIR taught me to tango, actually. Now that was something to see but I could totally do it if the music was right.”

“I would have liked to see that.” Dib felt silly but he was kinda having fun, and he liked seeing Zim happy. As the song came to an end, Zim got close to Dib, pressing up against him and gripping his hips to spin him around with him.

A flush of heat went through Dib’s entire body, and he didn’t know whether he wanted to push him away or pull him closer. He just let him take the lead, spinning and then separating when the song ended.

Zim was laughing, but Dib was absolutely confused, and he ended up just walking away to try and sort things out. The irken started after him, but was blocked by some classmates.

“Wow, you look great!” Zita exclaimed.

“Could have done more with your hair but your outfit is on point,” Jessica agreed.

“Can I dance with you?” Keef asked eagerly.

“Me too,” Gretchen said.

“Thank you, but eeh… Zim needs a break,” Zim said quickly, before ducking and slipping between two of them, making a break for Dib. Luckily his friend had just gone back to their table. Zim went to sit down next to him. “You’re acting really weird today.”

“I feel weird today,” Dib replied. “This whole atmosphere just… I don’t know.”

“Did you like the dance, at least?”

“I did, I really liked dancing with you, that’s… not the problem. I just keep feeling odd around you…” Dib sighed, rubbing his head.

Zim blinked, then said, “I think this dance has got you thinking about a lot of things. Tell me something. Do you like me?”

“Of course.”

“Do you like how I look?”

“I… Yes, a lot. You’re very handsome.”

Zim nodded. “That was the goal. Listen, I know you said we would come here as friends, but here’s an idea. Why don’t we make this a date instead?”

Flustered, Dib said, “Y-you want to date me?”

“I did say I was gonna live like a human, right? And humans date. And I like you, and I wanna date you. How about it?” Zim covered his hand.

Dib’s chest hurt, but that touch settled him, made his stomach flutter pleasantly, and his anxiety faded. He swallowed, thinking about it, and realizing he really liked the idea of dating Zim. This was new, he had never cared before, but… Then again, he never had someone he liked this much before. He agreed, turning his wrist so he could properly hold Zim’s hand, winding their fingers together. “Sure. Let’s date.”

Zim smiled and stood, and now the DJ had put on a slow song, something to change the mood a bit.

Dib felt a little awkward as Zim moved to stand in front of him, but mostly because of how much shorter he was. The top of Zim’s head hardly even reached his chest, and Dib was tempted to kneel down for him, but knew he would hate that. So they did their best, holding hands on one side, while on the other, Zim rested a hand on Dib’s waist and Dib settled his on his shoulder. They stepped around in gentle circles, swaying to the music, and after a few moments, Zim rested his head against Dib’s abdomen.

That was really cute. Dib looked down at him, then back up at the other couples. A few students batted their lashes at him, nodding to Zim. He just smiled at them. He was content with this. Zim was warm and surprisingly comfortable against him. Dib knew that he could easily just curl around him and hold him close, and was entertaining the idea of cuddling with him later. If he wanted to.

They didn’t separate until the song was over, at which point, Zim looked up at him. His wig had gotten a little messed up, and Dib set his hand on it. He started to fix it, then said, “You know, you are wearing irken clothes… I’d like to see you actually looking like an irken while wearing it.”

Zim tilted his head, then said, “I can’t just take off my disguise.”

“Sure you can, you have before, these guys don’t care. You know they don’t.”

“Well… Okay, for you.” Zim pulled the wig off, his antennae uncurling and standing up. He glanced around, then peeled the contacts off. As expected, no one really seemed to look twice at him. Everyone has seen him without them at some point and he had explained it away years ago. The disguise was put in his PAK, and he looked back at Dib.

He looked so perfect now, his ruby eyes complimented by his cape, his soft antennae perking curiously and occasionally trembling at the bass music… He was alien and wonderful, and Dib pulled him into a hug, crouching down so he could hold him properly, their chests together and his arms around his middle.

Zim jumped, but he relaxed into it, hugging him back. He started to let go, but Dib had other plans, straightening and lifting him up.

“Whoa.” Zim’s feet kicked for a moment, and he tightened his hold, staring at the ground before looking back up. “Dib, what-”

“Can I kiss you?” Dib asked.

Zim stared at him, antennae jolting up. It took him a moment to remember what that was, then his face turned pink. “Er… if you want…”

“Do you want to?”

“I…” Zim could see the want on Dib’s face, and realized he wanted to be close to him too. “Yeah, go ahead.”

Dib tilted his head and kissed him, right on the lips. The first meeting was clumsy, Dib’s glasses hitting Zim’s face and Zim wincing. The second time, he was gentler, pressing their lips together slowly so his glasses weren’t as harsh on Zim’s skin. Zim relaxed into it, leaning his head and responding, soft lips moving curiously against Dib’s. Both were surprised by the other’s mouth, how different it was compared to their own, and once they got confident, they explored with their tongues.

Dib was the first to get embarrassed and pull back. His cheeks were burning, but Zim was blushing too, so it wasn’t so bad.

They were getting some looks. Dib placed his hand in the small of Zim’s back and guided him across the gym, back to their table, where they would hopefully be hidden in the dark.

Zim was already talking excitedly. “Wow, I’ve seen humans do that on TV and always thought it looked gross but that actually felt pretty nice!”

“Yeah, it did,” Dib agreed. He took in how Zim’s eyes looked with the candlelight reflected in them, and reached over to gently run a finger along his antenna. The stalk laid back, submissive to it. “You should show me how to tango later.”

Zim leaned his head into Dib’s palm. “Maybe I will.”

Dib moved his chair closer to him, taking his glasses off and sliding his hand under Zim’s chin. Luckily he could see things close to him even without his glasses, so he could make out Zim’s face just fine. The irken was watching him, eyes half-lidded, calmly smiling at him. After a moment, he lightly brushed their lips together.

Zim followed him as he leaned back, kissing him properly, though he was giggling as he did. “This feels so weird! Heh, makes my stomach flutter.”

“Yeah?” Dib took his hand, running his thumb over the back of it. “I feel the same way.”

They didn’t do much more dancing, instead just sitting and talking to each other. When a classic such as the Cha Cha Slide came on, then they would get up and follow along. They danced to the rare slow song that came on, and when the prom king and queen were announced, they were there to clap politely. Things started winding down after their dance, people beginning to leave, and Dib considered doing the same.

But Zim was really hyped up for a particular energetic song that just came on, and insisted they dance to this one. So Dib agreed, laughing at his enthusiasm. Zim took his hands, holding them tight as he danced with him. He used lots of hip swaying like earlier, which Dib felt awkward trying to copy, but it was kinda fun. Then Zim twirled, pressing his back to Dib’s front and drawing Dib’s hands down, placing them on his hips.

Immediately Dib felt hot, hands shaking, and he glanced around nervously. Nearly everyone around them was dancing the same, but this felt inappropriate.

“It’s alright,” Zim assured him, glancing up. “I trust you.”

Slowly Dib relaxed, holding onto him as they moved, noting how weird it was with Zim being so much shorter. His PAK pressed into his stomach. He wasn’t even able to grind properly, too short to press his butt into Dib’s crotch. Not that he wanted him to do that, of course. But they managed, and Dib curiously ran his hand up to the fabric around Zim’s waist, slipping beneath it. He met the silky fabric of his shirt, tucked into his pants. No touching his skin there, then.

“Looking for something?” Zim asked, and his eyes were keen when he turned his head to look at him. He knew.

Dib blushed and stammered, “S-sorry, just… You’re really cute, and… I like being close to you, so…”

“You wanted to feel me up. It’s fine, really, I’m gorgeous! You should want me!”

Dib sighed. “Zim…”

“I’m perfect, a prime specimen of my race, you’re no doubt enamored by my charm…”

Dib began to question his attraction to this tiny egomaniac. The song ended, and he checked his watch. “Oh man… It’s late. Wanna get out of here?”

“It’s barely nine,” Zim said.

Dib took his hand. “I think we should go. We stay too long and we’ll get roped into helping them clean up.”

“Yeah let’s leave.”

They headed out. Once in Dib’s car, Dib said, “So, that was… fun.”

“Oh yes. Music was too loud though. I mean I’m genetically engineered to be tough but you poor humans can get hearing loss from those decibel levels. I did a study on it back when I first got here, considered using laser-guided sound as a weapon. Did you know that at 200 decibels your weak eardrums would be blasted apart, along with every structure to and beyond them? The impact to your brain would kill you. Fun, huh?”

Dib stared at him for a good moment, then started the car. “Well it’s a good thing the music in there was probably only around a hundred. Few things on this planet can hit 200 decibels and no human should be near when that happens.”

“Tornadoes can hit 185,” Zim mused. “But at that point it’s more shock waves than sound.”

“Thanks for the science lesson.” Dib headed onto the road.

“Now what?” Zim asked.

Dib shrugged. “Mind if I come back to your house to hang out?”

“Sure, if you want to deal with GIR.”

“...Wanna come to my house?”

Zim laughed. “Sure.”

They went to Dib’s house. Dib was removing his tie before they even got inside. Once inside, the coat was next, and Zim unclasped his cape.

“There they are,” Gaz said. “How was it?”

“Alright,” Dib replied. “Food was good, but I don’t really like dances much.”

“It was an acceptable way to spend the evening,” Zim said. “Mostly I liked being with Dib.”

“Aw. Did you kiss?” she teased.

Dib gave her a look, but Zim just casually shrugged and said, “Yeah, plenty of times.”

Dib stared at him and Gaz paused her game. Zim seemed surprised by them both looking at him.

“What? We did, it was nice, what’s the big deal?”

Dib covered his face and Gaz started laughing. “I knew it! I called it, Dib, I totally called it!”

“It’s not a big deal,” Dib muttered.

“Bet you feel pretty embarrassed now, huh?”

“Come on, why do you always have to rub it in when you’re right?” Dib complained.

“Because you think you know it all, well guess what? You don’t.” Gaz seemed cheerful as she went back to her game. “About time you losers did some making out.”

Zim wasn’t shy about it. “Haha, yeah, it was great. We’re gonna start dating too.”

“Ha! Like you weren’t already!”

Dib scowled and took Zim’s hand. “Let’s go upstairs.” He led him away.

Zim followed, and once they were in Dib’s room, he stood there while the boy kicked out of his shoes. “Are you ashamed of kissing me?” he asked.

“What? No, not at all, it’s just… Kinda embarrassing, you know?”

Zim frowned. “No. I like you, I liked kissing you and dancing with you. I’m proud of that. Why is it embarrassing?”

Dib shrugged. “Humans are just… Shy about showing affection publicly.”

“That’s dumb.”

“I know, but it’s society.” Once Dib had his shoes and socks off, he untucked his shirt, sighing with relief. He put everything else away and then sprawled out on the bed, yawning. “Much better.”

“You did enjoy the evening, right?”

Dib looked up at him, surprised to see that he actually seemed worried. “Of course I did,” he assured him. “I’m just… new to the whole dating thing. Especially since you’re… Well, you.” Zim tilted his head, and he clarified. “You’re my old enemy, and an alien, I just… Don’t want to do something offensive. Your culture is different from mine.”

“In my culture, sexuality is one of two things. Either you have one and you’re open about it because there are no taboos, or you don’t have one and you don’t care about this stuff. Very simple and no one gets worked up about it. True, we aren’t public about our affection, we keep it behind closed doors, but… It’s there.” Zim sat next to him. “I couldn’t tell you how irkens romance each other. I’ve never bothered until now. Had better things to do and didn’t like anyone that much, ya know?”

Dib nodded. “I can see that.”

Zim snorted. “Yeah. So like. Say or do whatever gushy things you want, I’ll tell you if I think it’s stupid.”

“Okay. Was prom stupid?”

“Nice concept, bad execution. But I still had fun. But next time we go out, let’s do something quieter.”

“A trip to the mall, maybe?” Dib suggested. He could see how Zim perked up; the irken has recently found a great enjoyment for shopping. “We could go shopping, check out some deals…”

“Sounds great! We can do that tomorrow!”

“Oh yeah… Tomorrow’s Saturday. Finally.” Dib unbuttoned his shirt, tugging that off too, and worked on his pants. He wasn’t really shy about undressing around Zim, they did have gym class together after all. And Zim wasn’t even paying attention, going on about a store he liked because of all the lava lamps.

Dib changed into some comfortable pajamas, and dropped his clothes onto the dresser. He’ll get them dry-cleaned later. He returned to the bed, tapping Zim’s arm. “I’m pretty tired.”

“Oh, okay. Should I leave?”

“You can spend the night if you want.”

“Don’t mind if I do.” Zim has spent the night with Dib before. He tugged off his boots but everything else must have felt fine to him, because he left it on.

Dib casually pulled him over, wrapping his arms around him and just holding him. Zim tensed at first, then relaxed, leaning against him.

“I know you don’t need to sleep, but do you want to?” Dib asked.

“I don’t have anything else to do, so yeah, I can.” Zim turned to him curiously as he laid down, and when Dib got under the covers and held them up, Zim understood. He hesitated, then crawled in next to him. It was very warm but not unpleasantly so, and he soon felt Dib’s arm drape across him, drawing him close. It was like hugging, he realized. But easier since they were on their sides. Zim happily snuggled in against the tall human, tucking his face against his neck, throwing his arm over his side.

He heard Dib chuckle and could feel it rumble in his chest. This close he could feel his friend’s heartbeat, alien but comforting. Zim hardly ever felt sleepy, but he almost did now. It was certainly a secure, nice place to relax.

Dib slowly ran his hand up the back of Zim’s head, finding an antenna to gently twirl around. Zim purred and closed his eyes, and Dib felt him wiggle closer. He closed his own eyes, content. He had no idea the ex-Invader would become so fond of friendship and physical contact, but he was glad he had managed to convert him. He knew this would be an interesting relationship and he could only hope they could make it work.


End file.
